If the Los Angeles Clippers hadn’t been so inept at the free throw line, Rudy Gay’s last-second shot wouldn’t have mattered.

Chris Paul had 24 points and 11 assists and high-flying Blake Griffin added 17 points for the Clippers, who beat the Memphis Grizzlies 87-86 Saturday only after Gay missed a three-pointer just before the buzzer.

“That’s the way we planned it,” Paul joked. “They aren’t going to give us anything. They’re never out of the game with an electrifying scorer like Rudy Gay.”

The Clippers won their first home playoff game in six seasons to take a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference playoffs. Game 4 is Monday night.

Long-suffering Clippers fans, who turned Staples Center into a sea of red, very easily could have gone home disappointed.

Paul hit a fadeaway jumper with 2:02 left for an 82-80 lead. On the next possession he had a no-look bounce pass to Griffin coming in off the baseline for a monster slam.

Trailing 86-80 after two free throws by Paul, Gay hit a three-pointer with 12.9 seconds left, Memphis’ first field goal since 7:10. After Los Angeles missed three of four free throws, Gay hit another three-pointer with 8.9 seconds to hush the crowd.

Eric Bledsoe missed two more free throws, Gilbert Arenas rebounded for Memphis to set up Gay’s final shot. Gay, who had 24 points, got some room to shoot, and quickly let go. But it the shot bounced off the rim.

“At the end of the game I wanted to make a quick play,” Gay said.

Memphis had another big advantage at the free throw line, like it did in winning Game 2, but couldn’t capitalize. The Grizzlies made 30 of 39 while the Clippers were just 13 of 30.

Paul did his part at the line, making 7 of 8. But Griffin missed 6 of 9 while Reggie Evans missed 8 of 8.

Memphis had seemingly taken the crowd out of the game in the third quarter, when it outscored the Clippers 25-14 to take a 71-64 lead.

The Clippers’ lull extended into the fourth quarter. Marc Gasol made a field goal with 7:10 left for a 77-71 lead, but that was Memphis’ last basket until the first of Gay’s two three-pointers in the closing seconds.

“We shut down and only scored 15 points in the fourth quarter,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. “We took too many quick shots and gave up second-chance points. We gave them the back door and Blake took advantage of it.”

Said Gay: “We missed a couple plays we wish we had back. We had a couple letdowns. ‘’

Thunder 103, Mavericks 97: Oklahoma City kept picking and rolling, and James Harden kept making plays.

Instead of giving in and being content going home for a Game 5, the Thunder now are waiting for their next series. Oklahoma City rallied to complete a first-round series sweep of the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.